Los Angeles daily herald., 1887-01-09
PRESIDENTS MESSAGES.
How Lin coin, , o hnsOn and Grant
Prepared Their Documents.

How Lin coin, J oh hns ON and Grant
Prepared Their Documents.
The capacity Of President Cleveland
for hard work, says a writer in the
Washington Post, is perhaps best illus.
trated by the fact that he is writing
every word OF his message. His expert
ence last year, when he wrote with his
own hand the longest message ever sub
mitted by President to Congress, does
not seem to have dismayed him in the
least. This year, although the message
will be briefer, it will be of sufficient
length to make the physical task of
writing it somewhat laborious. Thor.
oughly engrossed in his work, the Pres.
ideEt sees as few callers as he possibly
can. He takes no recreation except o
drive in the afternoon, and even Thank
giving day was devoted to work. From
morning 10 night his head bends over
his desk-a historical piece of furniture,
made from the timbers of the ship Res.
cue and presented by Queen Victoria to
this Government. He writes small,
cramped hand, but his pen moves over
the paper with considerable ease, and he
rarely has occasion to revise his matter.
All the phrases in his writing which
have become famous were first thoughts.
Very few persons have any idea of the
great amount of detail which the Pres.
dent accomplishes. All his veto MESA
ges were written by him personally, and
that, too, in the longest possible way.
In returning house bill No. 5,96S. for
instance, he wrote "House bill number
five thousand nine hundred and sixty.
eight" He penned his Thanksgiving
proclamation. Many of the letters
which other Presidents turned over to
their Secretaries are answered by him
in person. He even addressed with his
own hand the envelope which informed
District attorney Benton of his rein
statement.
In personally writing his messenges
President Cleveland differs from any of
bis predecessors. Lincoln wrote COM
paralively little of his mesa but he
paid close attention to the phraseplogy
In those days the "buts' and the "itfs"
counted. He wrote q small, even hand,
easily marred by srasares. johnson,
who followed him, wrote still less. His
right arm was crippled and he could not
raise it to his head. He used pen and
ink rarely, finding lead pencil less
tiresome. 1t is said that he did not
write letter in ink after he beclme
President. He signed his name fre-
quently, of coarse, but an entire letter
in his handwriting is now worth its
weight in gold. He dictated his mes.
sages to Col. William G. Moore, who
was then his private Secretary. He
thought quickly, for the impossibility
of writing developed the faculty of die
tation to its highest degree.
PRESIDENT GRANT
Sent eight messages to Congress. They
were in the main contributions from his
Cabinet officers, written in the first per-
son and then dovetailed together. They
were not finally submitted, however,
without careful consideration. Grant
was cautions and conservative and care
fully modified and revised the recon
mendations of his Cabinet officers. He
loved to write, and all the additions and
mendations of the messages were in his
own handwriting. He wrote many
autograph letters, and his vetoes were
also in his own hand. He could dictate,
but not easily, and whenever he wanted
to be particularly forcible he shut him.
self ia his room, and, free from Interrupt.
ton, wrote out in full what he desired
to say.
Mr.. Hayes wrote sprawly, irregular
hand, hard to read by those who were
unaccusiomed to it. His messages were
largely the work of Mr.. Rodgers, his
private secretary, a man of considerable
scholarship. Whatever polish they con.
tanned was due entirely to Mr.. Rodgers,
and many portions, indeed, were written
by the latter in the first instance. The
Cabinet officers aided largely in the
work and their contributions were used
without revision. President Arthur's
handwriting was bold and large, show.
ing considerable force, and the words
aud letters were joined in an easy, run
ming style, as if the writer had done con.
siderable clerical duty. Surrogate Rol-
lings, Of New York, it is not generally
known, was Mr.. Arthur's right.hand
man in the preparation OF the messages.
Together they arranged the topics to be
treated upon and many of the ideas con.
tanned in the documents eminated di.
rectly from Mr.. Rollins.
IN FORMER DAYS
The messages were duplicated on mani
fold paper, and when the private secre-
tary was supposed to have reached the
Capitol-for there was no telegraph or
telephone connection with the White
House then-copies were distributed to
the anxious correspondents and report
ers. Then there was grand rush for
the telegraph and the newspaper offices.
81 have seen them nearly break their
necks in getting down stairs" said a
veteran employe of the White House. in
describing the scene. Many Of the
newspaper men did not hesitate to go
through the lower and private part of
the building, and make short cuts to
Pennsylvania avenue through the
grounds. Others, who had carriages
aud the feetest horses the city could
afford standing at the front entrance,
raced down the Avenue at speed
far beyondsthe limits of the law. At
the newspaper offices an extra force of
compositors hurried the messages into
type. The public entered into the spirit
of rivalry and large crowds surrounded
the offices, all ready to cheer the first
newsboy who appeared with bundle OF
papers under his arm. Nowadays it is
different. The persons who, in these
peaceful times. take even sufficient In
terest in message to struggle through
its long array of commonplace sentences
are in large minority.
A Presidents message has always been
regarded as the most
IMPORTANT PIECE OF NEWS
A correspondent could secure. In the
DAYS of fluctuations in gold it had its
value to Wall street also. Indeed, it is
asserted at the White House that once
during Johuson's administration New
York broker who wds anxious to an.
ticipate the effect of the Presidents rec.
concentrations on the market, offered
S25, 900 to an employe for an advance
copy. His offer was declined. Despite
this general desire to get hold of the